Comments on: Joe Satriani and Coldplay, the Chiffons and George Harrison http://madisonian.net/2008/12/05/joe-satriani-and-coldplay-the-chiffons-and-george-harrison/ a blog about law, tech, culture, and related things Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:22:44 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jona faims http://madisonian.net/2008/12/05/joe-satriani-and-coldplay-the-chiffons-and-george-harrison/comment-page-1/#comment-275081 Jona faims Sat, 04 Apr 2009 10:05:14 +0000 http://madisonian.net/?p=1619#comment-275081 For Joe to win though he must prove that the melody is his and his alone.That it appears in no other published works and is unique to "if i could fly". He can't .One example is Enanitos Verdes's "Frances limon " which has the same melody that Joe is suing for , but was released 2 years earlier in 2002. There are many more examples and as in the Willams V baxter case. The verdict after many appeals read " although there are substantial similarities in the melody, the melody in question is not owned by baxter .Therefore no copyright infringement has occured . Case dismissed . For Joe to win though he must prove that the melody is his and his alone.That it appears in no other published works and is unique to “if i could fly”. He can’t .One example is Enanitos Verdes’s “Frances limon ” which has the same melody that Joe is suing for , but was released 2 years earlier in 2002.
There are many more examples and as in the Willams V baxter case. The verdict after many appeals read ” although there are substantial similarities in the melody, the melody in question is not owned by baxter .Therefore no copyright infringement has occured . Case dismissed .

]]> By: Vivek Ganti http://madisonian.net/2008/12/05/joe-satriani-and-coldplay-the-chiffons-and-george-harrison/comment-page-1/#comment-271464 Vivek Ganti Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:52:57 +0000 http://madisonian.net/?p=1619#comment-271464 Satriani's claim does come down to demonstrating 1) Copying and 2) substantial similarity. The Bright tunes case, which created the doctrine of "subconscious copying," will be useful for Satriani to demonstrate that his work was copied. However, the holding in Bright Tunes will not help Satriani in claiming substantial similarity between the two works. I think Satriani has an excellent case (one that can make it to a jury) but the parties will probably settle. Satriani’s claim does come down to demonstrating 1) Copying and 2) substantial similarity. The Bright tunes case, which created the doctrine of “subconscious copying,” will be useful for Satriani to demonstrate that his work was copied. However, the holding in Bright Tunes will not help Satriani in claiming substantial similarity between the two works.

I think Satriani has an excellent case (one that can make it to a jury) but the parties will probably settle.

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